The EV Club staged a small showcase at a well-attended event called STEAMFest, presented by Sustainne with (and at) Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport. This event covered numerous topics related to energy efficiency, zero-waste, raising organic food, ecology, as well as speakers who gave advice to students about environmentally-related careers (of which there is a wide variety).

The time of year is past, for the most part, for outdoor showcases, but we braved the somewhat cold November weather and had a great response. We find that there is still a pretty low baseline level among the general public about what EVs are about and what incentives may be available. It reminds us that the commitment to doing these will be worth it over time.

The Green Wheels Expo, one of many Drive Electric Week events being held around the country, had its strongest showing ever.

Over 70 EV owners exhibited their vehicles, along with 7 dealers and Tesla who held offered test drives. According to Scott Thompson, one of the Sustainable Fairfield leaders who organized the event said that attendance was higher in Fairfield than in similar events in San Francisco and Boston.

Along with many of the increasing numbers of EVs currently available, the event included an electric schoolbus.

This bus, from National Express Transit, currently in use in White Plains, NY, is a battery only zero emission bus. It has a range of 62 miles, more than enough for its daily run. One of the more unique things about it is that the purchase of the bus was subsidized by Con Edison with the proviso that it can be used as a 2-way battery when not in use ferrying students. In other words, it serves as stationary storage, which can then can be tapped in periods of very high demand. This is a potentially tranformative application and it is something that has been discussed in the EV world for some time. It will also get your warranty voided, as manufacturers err on the side of caution with respect to its impact on battery longevity.

There is always room for a few novelties that, you never know, may be the wave of the future. This is a Honda Insight conventional hybrid with solar panels, which extend its electric range of operation, courtesy of Eugene’s Green Garage in Bridgeport.

There were several public officials on hand. In the photo below are Rep. Jonathan Steinberg and Sen. Tony Hwang.

National Drive Electric Week runs through September 22 with many events scheduled in the coming days. Find one near you with with this link.

An Active Time of Year for EV and Environmental Events

National Drive Electric Week, Climate Action Week, and Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist from Sweden, all make this the time of year to move from the sidelines and participate! These are some of the events in CT. Many club members have already registered to exhibit their vehicles at National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) events and to attend Climate Action rallies.

Green Wheels Expo – September 14, 10 am – 2 pm

This is the NDEW event staged by Sustainable Fairfield. Location: 140 Mill Plain Road lot (across from Rec Center), Fairfield. Registrations are pacing ahead of last year. There should be numerous cars, plus 7 dealers and Tesla will be offering test drives. Also on hand will be an electric school bus, electric bikes, electric lawn equipment, EV food truck, and a solar-powered car! Register your vehicle.

Climate Action Day – September 20

There are events around the state and the nation. Club members will be going to Hartford, New York, Westport, and other locations. EV Club CT is one of 80 organizations sponsoring the event in Hartford.

Hartford – Start time 11:45 am. Location: 210 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT. For more details and resources, visit C3M Facebook page and Event Webpage

Backgrounder on Greta Thunberg and Climate Crisis Mobilization

Westport Event on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Memorial Bridge at 11 am. The link to register

An important near-term priority is to oppose the natural gas plant currently undergoing permitting to be sited in Killingly. It isn’t needed and, if built, will be operating long past the 2040 deadline for the grid to be carbon-free.

Electrify Your Drive NDEW Event in Old Saybrook – September 21, 11 am – 3 pm

There will be owners with their private EVs as well as dealer organized test drives. Also, antique EVs! And a Q&A session in the Pavillion. Location: 155 College Street, Old Saybrook. Register

Energy Fair and Green Expo in Southbury – September 21, 10 am – 2 pm

Location: 775 Main Street at the Gazebo Southbury Green. This is more a general green fair, but it has an EV showcase.

NDEW Madison – September 22, 1 – 4 pm.

Location: Madison Senior Center, 29 Bradley, Road, Madison. Register

Green Wheels Expo

The EV Club of CT will be joining forces with the Sustainable Fairfield Task Force in the Green Wheels Expo, a National Drive Electric Event to be held in Fairfield on Saturday, September 14, 10 am – 2 pm. The location is the lot by the rec center at 140 Mill Plain Road.

This event is open to the public and many of the EVs on the road today will be on display. There will also be electric bikes, lawn mowers, an electric schoolbus and more.

EV owners interested in exhibiting their vehicle and speaking to attendees about the experience of driving electric are welcome to join us. Register your vehicle here

EV Showcase at Fairfield Farmers Market

The EV Club of CT is pleased to showcase 6 electric vehicles at the July 14 Fairfield Farmers Market at the Sherman Green in Fairfield. Please shop the market and visit us at the showcase in the parking lot behind the market from 10 am until 2 pm to check out the cars and discuss all things EV. This event is designed to help consumers make the transition to EVs.

Gas and diesel-powered vehicles are the largest contributors to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and a large proportion of urban air pollution in the US. Switching to electric vehicles makes for a quiet and clean ride with zero tailpipe emissions and a fraction of the maintenance since there are so few moving parts.

The EV Club of CT will be showcasing Tesla models X, S and 3, a Chevy Volt, a Nissan Leaf and a BMWi3 to help guests learn about electric cars on the market, how easy and convenient they are to maintain, how much fun they are to drive, what smart and autonomous features each offers, and how to charge them at home and on the road.

Incentives from the state and federal government can significantly reduce the cost of a new EV (purchase/lease) and many affordable used electric cars are now on the market, including the Certified Pre-Owned BMWi3 being showcased.

EV Club and CFE

The EV Club of CT and the CT Fund for the Environment (CFE) are hosting a meeting on July 15 at the offices of the CFE. The meeting will begin at 7:00 PM. The CFE address is 900 Chapel Street, Upper Mezzanine.

Agenda

Aside from being an opportunity to get to know one another, the agenda includes a recap of this year’s legislative session, planning for Green Wheels during Drive Electric Week, and a proposed event to be held at the Lime Rock racetrack.

Come join us on the 15th!

How to Sell an Electric Vehicle

One of the local automobile dealers once told me that the best way to sell an EV was to take it one customer at a time. Let the prospective customer take it for a test drive that might last a day or even a weekend. De-mystify the vehicle and the experience of charging. The most important thing is to let the driving experience speak for itself. Until people actually use them, they don’t realize how much fun they are to drive and how easy they are to use.

Of course, for this test drive scenario to happen, the customer has to already be at the dealership. But taking this concept a step further is the strategy behind the national series of Electric Car Guest Drive events staged by the publisher of Electric Car Insider to extend the reach of EV sampling to a larger public. In these events, EV owners allow members of the public to take a short test drive of their vehicle with the owner in the passenger seat. It allows for a free-flowing, informal, and friendly discussion about how to drive the car, the ins and outs of charging, and the EV driving experience in general.

Electric Vehicle Guest Drive

The EV Club of CT participated in one of these Electric Car Guest Drive events on May 16th and 18th. The 2-day event was held in Pearl River, NY at the offices of Orange and Rockland Utilities, which sponsored it. (Utilities realize that they are the new “gas stations.”)

Approximately 500 people attended over the two days with about half of them taking test drives. There were 12-15 cars available each day with drives conducted on a 1.3-mile pre-planned course. The vehicle makes represented included Tesla, Chevrolet, BMW, Mitsubishi, Mercedes Benz, and Audi. There were both battery electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid models. Based on my informal observation, the vehicle that got the most attention was the Tesla Model 3.

Personal Experience

As an owner and a newbie at this guest-drive thing, I admittedly approached the event with a little trepidation over allowing strangers to use my vehicle. Every other EV showcase I have attended (and I will cop to the fact that there have been way too many) either did not involve test drives (most of them), or had test drives offered by a limited number of participating dealers or Tesla reps. Given that this format has no sales pressure and a lot of EV owners present, there were many more people able to get behind the wheel.

I have been plugging in since 2012 and have lots to say about driving electric. Even 10 or so years into the modern EV era, we’re still considered early adopters and tend to be an enthusiastic bunch, champing at the bit for EV sales to get moving up that S-Curve. I had to restrain myself so that the test drivers could ask questions and I could get a sense of what they knew and what their pre-conceptions were. With respect to the Chevy Volt I was driving, many people still don’t understand the concept of a plug-in series hybrid. They were surprised at how much gas it saves and that its ride is closer to a Tesla than a Prius. These interactions turned out to be a lot of fun, and I get to opine on which options I think are worthwhile without having to worry about a sales manager looking over my shoulder. Interestingly, I also fielded a number of questions about buying a used EV, an important component of market growth.

Does It Work?

All of which leads to the big question: do these events accelerate adoption? Apparently, they do. In a big way. According to ECI publisher, Chris Alan, 30% of those taking a test drive purchase an EV within 6 months. (We’re not saying what we put in the lemonade.)

There will be more of these events coming to a city near you. Stay tuned!

The glimmer of blue sky in the photo was a brief break in the otherwise cloudy, cold, and windy spring day on which the 8th annual Westport Maker Faire was held.

The EV club was there in force with a Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X, Tesla Model 3, BMW i3s, BMW i8, Jaguar I-Pace, and Chevrolet Volt in a joint exhibit with TecKnow Smart Home Automation and Ross Solar – smart homes, smart cars, and renewable energy.

Visitor traffic from attendees was steady throughout the day. Club members were on hand to provide information about the vehicles and what it is like to drive electric. The number of EV options is proliferating, and these showcases are a good way for people who are pressed for time to gain an understanding of the types of cars that are available and what driving electric is all about.

The Tesla “summon” feature was a big hit with visitors and allowed some youngsters to get their first taste of “driving” electric (safely and legally, of course – part of our nefarious long-term plan for all 6-year olds to demand to drive EVs when they get their license in 10 years.)

A few specifics about the vehicles present at the showcase:

Tesla Model S – 370 miles of range with long-range option.

Tesla Model X – 325 miles of range with long-range option.

Tesla Model 3 – 310 miles with long-range option.

(Note: these are current ranges – Tesla has improved the maximum range over time.)

BMW i3s – 153 miles of range (plus another 47 on gasoline with the optional range extender gasoline engine).

BMW i8 – This is a plug-in hybrid which gets 18 miles of electric range before the gasoline power kicks in and extends the range for another 312 miles at 38 MPG.

Jaguar I-Pace – A battery electric vehicle like the Teslas with a range of 234 miles.

Chevrolet Volt – A plug-in hybrid with 53 miles of electric range and another 370 miles on gas at 42 MPG. This vehicle has been discontinued by GM as of last month. The final model year is 2019 and there are is still some availability.

Join us at Maker Faire Westport 2019 on April 27. Our EVs and smart home exhibit is adjacent to the Baldwin Lot part of the Maker Faire exhibition areas, part of Bedford Square. You can’t miss us. You’ll hear us as well with live music!

Smart homes and Smart cars!  

Have you ever controlled 50 connected devices at one time by saying “I’m home!” as you walk in the front door?  Have you ever seen the electric car that can drive itself?  What about the one with the falcon wing doors that can dance to music? Come visit the TecKnow Pod along with the Electric Vehicle Club of Connecticut’s display at 12 Elm Street, Bedford Square where you can try out the most advanced and secure smart home tech for yourself and see, touch and climb around inside the latest Electric Vehicles (EVs) and find out what all the fuss is about. EV Club members will be there displaying a variety of vehicles and answering your questions about what life is like after you make the switch from a gasoline-powered car to an electric one. TecKnow It All’s and live local young rock bands will be on hand to showcase how music, green energy, and Smart Living Ecosystems will redefine how we live for generations to come…The Future is Now!

Two Teslas, Two LEAFs, a Jaguar and a BMWi3 – these are the cars EV Club of CT members displayed at the EV Showcase at Discovery Museum & Planetarium’s “Climate Week” Transportation event on Thursday, April 17, 2019, from 11-1. Guests who visited the showcase ranged from families with small children, to Museum board members to various presenters at the event including Katie Scharf Dykes, the newly appointed Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP). Various Club members expressed our support to Commissioner Dykes for extending the CHEAPR rebate for BEVs and other alternative fuel vehicles beyond 2019 to further incentivize EV purchases and rapidly expanding the adoption of electric buses for public transit and schools, perhaps with grants.

As enthusiasts, we all sang the praises of our EVs and underscored their benefits including zero tailpipe emissions, ease and low cost of maintenance, positively contributing to the decarbonization of the transportation sector, taking personal responsibility for improving public air quality, and advancing the adoption of EVs in the state by making the cars visible.

Sunny and warm weather allowed EV Club member Dawn Henry to entertain guests with her Tesla Model X’s performance of Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s iconic rock Christmas song, Carol of the Bells. Watch the video below to see what we mean by performance – lights, doors, wings, mirrors – the car was literally dancing to the music while putting on a light show. Squeals of delight from small children could be seen and heard as they broke out in dance right along with the car. The X got a big round of applause at the end. For an encore, guests were invited to a little lighthearted toilet humor: Emissions Testing Mode with all 6 whoopee cushion sounds. A real hoot.

EV Club member and TecKnow founder Phil Levieff’s Tesla Model S wowed guests with its ability to be summoned on command from its owner. The car’s sensors stop it immediately if it nears any object. Smart, connected living – via cars, phones, smart homes, solar power and Tesla Powerwalls – are his expertise and guests were invited to learn more at the Westport Maker Faire on Saturday, April 27. The EV Club will be presenting a showcase as part of TecKnow’s “The Future is Now” smart living experience at their Bedford Square office.

Eugene Tomachinski, an EV Club member and owner of Eugene’s Green Garage, brought a 2016 BMWi3 Rex, which is for sale as a Certified BMW used vehicle with 18,000 miles.

EV Club member David Symington from Jaguar Land Rover of Fairfield brought a brand new Jaguar I-Pace SUV for us all to check out and promised to bring another to the next meeting. The car was just awarded the World Car of the Year at the New York International Auto Show!

Analiese Paik and Jackie Eskin displayed their white 2016 Nissan LEAF and 2012 light blue LEAF, respectively. Comparing them side by side was useful in learning how much changes so quickly in EV technology, but both have steering wheel warmers.

Please join us at the Maker Faire or our next meeting on Tuesday, April 23 at 7 pm at the Higgins Group offices at Bedford Square.